Student stories
Adult learners award winners 2009
Sunita Arora-Shah. Outstanding winner for London
Sunita left India and went to Nottingham at a very young age. Having not achieved any qualifications at school she later obtained three O levels and three A levels at college. Finding her work with deprived groups very challenging, she enrolled on singing classes for fun.
In 2001, Sunita moved to the BBC as a Community Affairs Researcher, Journalist and then Radio Producer with the Asian Network.
Media was a role she felt she was better suited to - being drawn to the music entertainment side of it. Wanting to fulfill her musical dreams Sunita decided to learn music at the City Lit.
Maria Tolley. Regional winner for London
Maria has enjoyed a long and colourful career as a dancer, guitarist, songwriter and more. Prolific in the 1980's she produced five albums of original songs which she performed worldwide. In the late 1980's however her composing and performing career was abruptly halted by the onset of reflex sympathetic dystrophy, rendering her unable to play or compose with her guitar.
Maria joined a Music Technology class at the City Lit and immediatley understood the potential and began exploiting this new medium, incorporating it into her musical work now used with children in schools.